With the recent advent of the insanely popular iPad and the June 2010 release of Apple’s new iOS 4 operating system, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that your business needs to create an iPhone app.
Before you take the plunge, hold the phone a second.
With thousands of applications available in the app store today, you might be thinking your business is missing a big opportunity if you don’t have an app. But consider this: without a significant “hook” that draws iPhone users to your app, you’re probably better off skipping the effort to develop one altogether.
Simply put, iPhone users aren’t going to waste their time downloading every new app that comes along. This is especially true for apps that are developed by businesses who post them for the purpose of promoting their products or services. See, no one who is used to applications that entertain, inform, excite or educate is going to be interested in one that merely schleps your company’s latest discounts or product improvements.
Instead, the typical iPhone user wants animated apps that stimulate and electrify. That’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. (Mark Twain said that. He’d probably say it all over again if he was comparing a boring idea for a “brochure-ware” style app to something like Trism or Tap Tap Revenge).
On the other hand, if the brianiacs in your company come up with an application that actually gives users a reason to download and frequently use it, then by all means it’s worth looking into. Especially if it is inherently useful while giving customers a way to connect the dots between the app and your product offerings, without being too “commercial.”
iPhone app development can indeed be a worthy adventure. But before you pull the trigger, make sure your company has a real application that is more appealing to the user than it is to your marketing manager.
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Hi there, Dave. I think that is the importance of working with seasoned application developers with an entrepreneurial mindset, isn’t it? You must know what the market wants and how to tap it. Ordinary businesses don’t so they need the expertise of a company that can deliver the apps and know how to market it